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Sorry Chris S, my comments were directed at Chris L, who had quoted a part of what I said.
Quote: Well I would have thought that living in a subduction zone, that geo-thermal might be worth investogating instead.
They do
Quote: Sorry Chris S, my comments were directed at Chris L, who had quoted a part of what I said.
ahh - my bad.
I've not changed my tune at all.
I'm really pleased for you that everything is so clear cut in your world, but unfortunately most of us live in the real world, where difficult decisions have to be made and happiness forever can not be guaranteed.
The Japanese built nuclear reactors to a spec they thought would withstand an earthquake, just like they build skyscrapers they think will withstand an earthquake. The skyscrapers stayed up, something in this particular set of circumstances meant the reactors didn't do so well. So they made a mistake with their calculations but they were unlucky that the circumstances caused it to be such an important mistake. Don't forget those plants will have been subjected to other earthquakes since they were built.
Mistakes and bad luck aren't mutually exclusive.
Ian
If you mean did they toss a coin then I would certainly hope not. If instead you mean did they take a calculated risk then yes they almost certainly did. They may have genuinely believed their plans were totally earthquake proof but I'm willing to bet they weighed up the known benefits against the potential risk and decided it was worth it.
Isn't that how most decisions are made?
Can aircraft manufacturers absolutely guarantee that their planes can withstand any lightning strike?
Can we guarantee every time we get in the car that there isn't going to be a sudden and catastrophic failure of our brakes?
Chris when you build your planet can I come and live on it please. I'm sure that it will be lovely, the sun will always shine during the day, nothing bad will ever happen and absolutely everybody will do absolutely everything perfectly.
Okay you win. I'm not going to bother discussing things any further when apparently all you are interested in doing is twisting words, taking things out of context and deliberately misinterpreting statements to fit your narrow view of how the world should spin.
From what I have seen, the Japanese have been prepared for earthquakes as good, if not better, than anyone. The tsunami, that is another thing, I don't think you can plan for something that size and powerful in an economical and sensible way. They tried their best, and continue to do so. Yes, tsunamis can be a consequence of earthquakes, but there is only so much you can plan for.
Whether the Nuclear Powerstations in Japan have been designed well enough will come out in time. Yes, they failed, but we will find out in time if their design should have survived or whether this was just too large an event and beyond their design limits. And there are design limits for everything by the way, it is just what compromises you make in the design, especially in such an active tectonic region. There is always human error to be taken in to account, which can happen at any time, to anyone, in any country.
I can see why the Japanese Prime Minister has been comparing this event to the war. Some of the towns look like a Atomic Bomb has gone off, and the devastation is more widespread and affects a population almost twice what it was in 1945. The economic impact of this event could be felt for decades, just like after the war. If the Nuclear Powerstations take a turn for worst, the Asian region, or even the whole World could be affected to a larger or smaller degree.
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